


Dangantale

by peachybirbs



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Suicide Attempt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-24
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-08-28 10:01:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16721220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peachybirbs/pseuds/peachybirbs
Summary: It took him a long time to get to the top of the mountain. Now he was there, and he couldn’t convince himself that he wasn’t afraid. His foot hovered above the entrance and he took deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself. He had been so eager to do this, why couldn’t he do it now?Just do it, he repeated in his mind.And then he had the courage to finally fall....His whole body hurt.---Hajime falls down Mt. Ebott and enters a world slowly falling into despair.





	1. Kill or Be Killed

**Author's Note:**

> hhhghh i'm back at it again with fanfics i probably wont finish!! ill try my best to make this different from undertale but there probably wont be much of a difference, oof
> 
> some of the characters may not make sense in the role they were given but that's a problem i dont feel like dealing with
> 
> and i have the main characters decided but i still havent chosen smaller characters like shop vendors and stuff jskfjkds
> 
> i have no idea if this is even gonna be slightly good but thats just part of the journey i guess!!!!

It took him a long time to get to the top of the mountain. Now he was there, and he couldn’t convince himself that he wasn’t afraid. The entrance was right there. It was right in front of him. So close to him. He took a few steps forward. Even closer. His foot hovered above the entrance and he took deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself. God damn it, he had been so eager to do this, why couldn’t he do it now? He was aware no one cared about him. _Just do it_ , he repeated in his mind.

_No one will find you._

_It won’t hurt anyone._

_It’ll be fine._

And then he had the courage to finally fall.

His dark hair flew back behind him and he felt the wind against his face. This was it. He was going to be free from his boring life. His heart raced and he couldn’t tell if he was scared again or if he was excited and he stared at the pink and red ground he was about to land on, thinking about what would happen after he died and…

...

His whole body hurt.

\---

Hajime cursed under his breath as he sat up and looked down at his bruised hands. He tried to poke the bruise but quickly pulled his hand back from pain. He wasn’t sure what he expected when he did that. Bruises hurt. Hajime decided to take a quick look around the area. Light shined in from where Hajime had fallen and that seemed to be the only source of light until Hajime noticed a hallway behind him. At the end of that hallway was more light. He had also noticed he landed face first on a large garden of red and pink flowers. He recognized one type of flowers in the garden…

Roses.

Which have thorns.

Hajime’s face was stinging. Damn. As pretty as roses were, being pricked by thorns was painful, especially if the thorns were all over your face.

There were barely any roses, though. The ones that were there just so happened to be where his face ended up being. How lucky of him. The garden was mostly made up of the same type of pink flower, but he had never paid much attention to different types of flowers, besides roses, tulips, and other commonly known flowers, so he didn’t know what it was. Whatever. It didn’t really matter, anyway.

Hajime placed his hands on the soft flowers beneath him and pushed himself to his feet. He stumbled and almost fell down again, but once he caught his balance, he turned around and made his way towards the end of the hall. He found not just light, but a doorway, too. Was getting home really going to be this easy? Hajime wasn’t sure how monsters felt about humans. After monsters were banished to the underground, the two species had no way to contact each other. Yes, it was good because the humans no longer had to fear monsters, but nobody had any knowledge about what monsters had decided to do to humans who fell into the mountain. It was pretty stupid of them to only block the exit to the underground. Humans could die if they fell down here. Isn’t that what they wanted to prevent?

Then, the realization that Hajime could die if he stepped through this doorway hit him. He shivered at the thought of dying alone where nobody could find him.

He didn’t want to think about that. He _shouldn’t_ think about that. He should just continue walking. Hajime was not going to die here. So, he stepped through the doorway and the first thing he saw was a small red flower, which seemed to be the same type of flower as what he landed on.

This flower had a face, though.

The flower stared at Hajime and Hajime stared back at it. That’s not a thing that happens. Flowers don’t have faces. That’s not normal. Even in a world of monsters, that doesn’t happen.

“What the hell?” Hajime muttered, tempted to leave and try to find a different way out. That probably wouldn’t do anything, though, so instead, he remained where he was.

He almost flinched when the flower spoke. “Hey,” it said. “Did you fall down here?” It paused for a moment. “Why am I even asking? That's the only way you could've gotten here, after all.” The flower smiled, chuckling. “I’m Anne. I’m an anemone.”

“A what?” Hajime replied quietly. “Anemones aren’t flowers.”

“Oh, you’re thinking of a sea anemone,” Anne replied. Her voice was soft and calming. Hajime almost wanted to trust her. Almost. “There’s a flower called an anemone, too. I happen to be one.”

“But… But how?” Hajime asked while he tugged on the end of his sweater. “How are you talking? You’re a flower.”

Anne ignored his question, confusing Hajime even more. “I don’t think I’ve seen you pass through this place before…” Anne said. “So, you’re new, right? You’re probably confused right now.”

“Yes, actually, I am.”

“I should teach you how things work down here,” Anne said before disappearing into the ground. Hajime took this as an opportunity to leave and find something… normal. Or normal-ish. Monsters weren’t exactly normal. However, as soon as Hajime stepped forward, Anne reappeared right in front of him and Hajime nearly screamed. “So,” the flower began, “That heart right there is your SOUL.” One of the leaves on Anne’s stem pointed to Hajime. Hajime was going to question her again before he noticed a red glow coming from his chest. He looked down and, just as Anne said, there was a heart. “If you or your SOUL is hit by something, you’ll lose HP, or health points,” Anne explained. “Kind of like in a video game, but this is real life and you’ll actually die if you lose all your HP. You can’t reset your life or anything. Don’t worry about dying randomly, though. You’ll be able to tell when your HP is low, and you can restore it with healing items.”

_Oh, so it basically is a video game._

“Healing items are all different,” Anne explained. “They’re either food or drinks. These items, however, are neither.” Small, white dots suddenly appeared around Anne. “These are friendliness pellets. You’re probably hurt from the long fall, so I’ll give you some of these.” She looked Hajime in the eye as she said, “Get as many as you can,” in a voice that, for some reason, unsettled the human. The pellets quickly approached Hajime and, before he had the chance to move out of the way, he was hit.

Anne was right when she said he would know if his HP was low. He could feel it was at about 5 points.

Those weren’t healing items.

“You’re so gullible,” Anne sighed with a pitiful expression on her face. “How will you ever survive out there if you got hurt by a small, weak flower?” She laughed quietly as she surrounded Hajime with friendliness pellets. Hajime tried to move, but the pellets started to close in on him. “Monsters aren’t going to be as nice to you as I am right now. Beyond here, it’s kill or be killed. I’m doing you a favor. Now, **die**.”

The pellets moved closer.

Hajime was going to die here.

At least, that’s what he thought until a large blob of slime from behind Anne covered her petals.

“Oh, damn it!” The flower yelled before disappearing into the ground again. The slime disappeared, as well as the friendliness pellets. Hajime relaxed a bit but felt fear when he saw someone standing in front of him. The new monster placed a hand on his shoulder and Hajime tensed up again. It was… so slimy. Was she… just slime? Only slime? She appeared to be a silver (or maybe green? Hajime wasn’t sure.) slime monster with hair covering her left eye. Hajime could feel the slime from her hand dripping onto his sweater and was a bit disgusted.

“Do not be afraid,” She said with a small smile on her face. “My name is Kirumi Tojo. I pass by here every day to see if any humans have fallen down.” She removed her hand from Hajime’s shoulder and was now silent. Maybe she was waiting for a reply?

“Uh, I’m Hajime,” Hajime quietly introduced himself.

Kirumi frowned and Hajime wondered if he did something wrong, even though he only said two words. “You shouldn’t talk so quietly, Hajime...That’s okay, though.” Kirumi stopped and grabbed Hajime’s hand, startling him a bit. “I’m here to guide you through the ruins and protect you from any harm. So, let’s go.”

Hajime was going to apologize, but Kirumi was already pulling him through the second doorway. He sighed as the slime monster began talking about all the puzzles he would face in the ruins.


	2. DETERMINATION

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hajime discovers DETERMINATION meets another human... kind of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy (late) holidays and happy new year, yall!
> 
> i decided to check how long it would take if i updated this once a month if theres gonna be 22 chapters, and i think itd take until march of 2020??? so im gonna try to be updating it twice a month, but i cant promise i wont be lazy and might miss an update

“The ruins are full of puzzles. They’re usually very simple, so I’m sure you’ll have no problem figuring them out. However...”

Hajime looked up at the long staircases as the leaves on the ground crunched beneath his feet. He wasn’t really paying attention to what Kirumi was saying. Instead, he was paying more attention to this strange, unsettling feeling he had. It felt like someone else was there with them, watching Hajime. Hajime’s eyes darted around the room, attempting to find someone, but there was no one. Only Kirumi, who was still talking about puzzles. Hajime did notice a light between the staircases, though. He pulled his hand away from Kirumi’s and, while Kirumi continued on and made her way up the stairs, Hajime slowly approached the light. He reached his hand out to it and he heard a voice.

_“The shadow of the ruins looms above, filling you with DETERMINATION. Your HP has been fully restored.”_

Then, a large rectangle appeared in front of him.

**-  
EMPTY LV 0**

**\-----**

**_Save_ Return  
-**

What?

He tried pressing “Save”.

**-  
HAJIME HINATA LV 1**

**Ruins - Entrance**

**_File saved_  
-**

What the hell?

“Hajime,” Kirumi yelled, startling the young boy, “What are you doing down there?”

Hajime wasn’t sure how to explain what he had just found. So, he decided it would be best not to try. “Nothing,” he replied, speed walking away from the light and up the stairs.

“Please, do try to keep up. I need to get you through the ruins quickly,” the slime monster said before entering the next room. Hajime followed while Kirumi continued speaking. “As I have said before, these puzzles are quite simple.” Kirumi pointed to some switches on the ground and a yellow lever on the wall. “For this puzzle, you must step on the four switches in those corners and pull that lever. If you mess up, you can pull the lever and the puzzle will reset. Go ahead and try it.” Kirumi placed a hand on Hajime’s back and nudged him forward, causing him to flinch. He thought that nervous feeling he had was gone, but it returned after he heard that voice again.

_“It’ll take time to get used to the slime. Eventually, you’ll barely notice how cold her hands are.”_

Hajime looked around. There was still no one else in the area. “...Go ahead,” Kirumi repeated. Whatever. Maybe there was a tiny monster somewhere trying to mess with Hajime or something. Hajime moved towards the switches, stepped on four of them, and pulled the lever on the wall, causing the room to shake and a door to open next to Hajime.

“Good job,” Kirumi said. She took Hajime’s hand again and pulled him to the next room. That room had a similar puzzle, and so did the next room, as well as the one after that. Hajime silently did as Kirumi told him to do, hoping the puzzles would end soon. He was getting a little bored. Eventually, they entered a room filled with spikes. 

“How are we… supposed to get to the other side?” Hajime mumbled, trying to take a step back.

Kirumi pulled him forward again and replied, “Just stay behind me-” she looked down at him with a stern expression, “and _don’t_ step anywhere that isn’t where I step. Do you understand?”

Hajime nodded slowly and Kirumi dragged him along towards the spikes. He stared at the ground, slowly following Kirumi’s footsteps. The only thing keeping the room from being completely silent was the sound of the spikes retracting into the floor every time Kirumi stepped forward.

“So,” Kirumi began, “why did you come here? Aren’t you aware of how dangerous monsters can be?”

Hajime raised his head to look at her. “Of course, I am. My life’s just… boring, I guess.” He looked away again, somewhat embarrassed by how stupid his answer was. “I was just desperate for a way to change it. I’m not even entirely sure what I was thinking when I was climbing the mountain.”

“I see,” Kirumi muttered, nodding. “Well, I’m sure your life isn’t that bad. I do hope your life is changed at least a little by coming here, though,” She said and smiled softly at the human. Hajime smiled back and the thorns still stuck in his face stung again. Ah. Hajime had almost forgotten about them. Once again, they were both silent until they stepped off the platform of spikes.

“I have some things to do,” Kirumi said as she guided Hajime to the next room, “so I’m afraid I must leave you here. Please do not leave this room… It may be dangerous for a human to wander around the underground by themselves.” Hajime didn’t reply until Kirumi was already making her way towards the next area.

“Wait,” He called out to her, “can you…” His voice trailed off when Kirumi, who apparently had not heard him, was already gone. He sighed and tried to step forward, but that same damn voice stopped him.

_“She’ll take care of those thorns later. She would never refuse to help someone, she’s way too nice.”_

Because of those other two times Hajime had heard something and there was no one there, he thought he could disregard it this time. But then it spoke again.

_“You know, the two of us have a little in common.”_

This time, when Hajime spun around, expecting not to see anyone, he saw a boy that looked about his age. His face looked awfully similar to Hajime’s. He even had a sweater similar to what Hajime was wearing. The main difference was how long this kid’s black hair was.

Hajime took a step back. “What… What do you mean?” He asked with a shaky voice.

 _“We both had boring lives,”_ the unknown boy explained. _“We came to Mt. Ebott to escape them. Though, my life may have been more… painful than boring. But I won’t get into that right now.”_ He held out his hand. _“My name’s Izuru. I already know your name.”_ Hajime just stood there, not speaking or moving. _“...Shake my hand, Hajime,”_ Izuru demanded, scaring Hajime enough to grab Izuru’s hand. Or, at least, he attempted to grab it. Hajime’s hand just phased through Izuru’s. Izuru snickered and crossed his arms. _“That always gets people… And by that, I mean it’s worked twice with the only two people I’ve done it with.”_

“Are you a monster?” Hajime asked, clearly still fearful.

 _“Nah,”_ Izuru responded, “But I was a human before I died. Now I’m kind of a monster. There’s a pair of ghost monsters down here, I think- Well, not here _. But one of them comes here often, from what I remember.”_

Hajime was going to say something, but Izuru started talking again. _“Stop looking so scared. I’m not gonna kill you. I’m here to do the opposite of that actually. I wanna come with you.”_

“...You what?”

 _“I want to help you get through the underground,”_ Izuru said. _“You’re a stupid human and you’d die here on your own with no one to find you besides Kirumi. And I’m sure it would break her heart to find one of her new children dead on their first day.”_

Hajime thought for a moment. “Is that what happened to you?”

 _“No,”_ the other answered, _“but it would have if she didn’t find me.”_

Hajime assumed he was talking about Kirumi and shrugged his shoulders. “I mean… okay, I guess? Let’s go.” He turned around and began walking.

 _“Thanks.”_ Izuru seemed grateful, though Hajime should be the one thanking him for wanting to help. _“By the way, do you know about DETERMINATION yet?”_

“...Yeah, I know what determination is.” Hajime said.

_“No, not determination. DETERMINATION.”_

Hajime gave Izuru a confused look, and Izuru gave him an annoyed one. _“You know that light you saw when you heard my voice for the first time? And there was that rectangle?”_ Izuru asked and Hajime replied with a nod. _“You used DETERMINATION and saved. The underground is like a video game, kind of. You use healing items, you have HP, you use DETERMINATION to save, and, if you die, you can load your save file and it’ll be like you never died.”_

It took Hajime a few seconds to process this. “...So, if I were to load my save file right now, no one would be able to know but me?”

 _“You can’t load your save unless you die, dumbass. Loading it when you’re still alive is just difficult.”_ Izuru rolled his eyes. _“And only you and I would know. No one else would.”_

“Huh…” Hajime mumbled.

 _“You’d also have to repeat everything you just did,”_ Izuru added, _“like those puzzles, the spike walk, and meeting me. That’d be really boring, so I suggest only loading when absolutely necessary… or, if you’re just tired of walking through the underground and you’ve lost all hope of getting home, you can give up and accept your death.”_

Hajime stared at Izuru for a moment, murmured “Got it,” and entered the next area, which appeared pretty large. On a pile of leaves in front of him, he saw a light that looked the same as that first light he saved at… a save point, one might call them. He reached a hand out to touch it.

_“Playfully crinkling through the leaves fills you with determination.”_

**-  
HAJIME HINATA LV 1**

**Ruins - Entrance**

**_Save_ Return  
-**

**-  
HAJIME HINATA LV 1**

**Ruins - Leaf Pile**

**_File saved_  
-**

After crinkling through the leaves for a few more seconds, Hajime stepped away from the save point and continued on with Izuru trailing behind him.


End file.
